Target Tokyo
Press Release
Today, Friday 31 July 2015, 9am CEST, WikiLeaks publishes "Target Tokyo", 35 Top Secret NSA targets in Japan including
the Japanese cabinet and Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, together with intercepts relating to US-Japan relations,
trade negotiations and sensitive climate change strategy.
The list indicates that NSA spying on Japanese conglomerates, government officials, ministries and senior advisers
extends back at least as far as the first administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which lasted from September 2006
until September 2007. The telephone interception target list includes the switchboard for the Japanese Cabinet Office;
the executive secretary to the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga; a line described as "Government VIP Line";
numerous officials within the Japanese Central Bank, including Governor Haruhiko Kuroda; the home phone number of at
least one Central Bank official; numerous numbers within the Japanese Finance Ministry; the Japanese Minister for
Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa; the Natural Gas Division of Mitsubishi; and the Petroleum Division of
Mitsui.
Today's publication also contains NSA reports from intercepts of senior Japanese government officials. Four of the
reports are classified TOP SECRET. One of the reports is marked "REL TO USA, AUS, CAN, GBR, NZL", meaning it has been
formally authorised to be released to the United States' "Five Eyes" intelligence partners: Australia, Canada, Great
Britain and New Zealand.
The reports demonstrate the depth of US surveillance of the Japanese government, indicating that intelligence was
gathered and processed from numerous Japanese government ministries and offices. The documents demonstrate intimate
knowledge of internal Japanese deliberations on such issues as: agricultural imports and trade disputes; negotiating
positions in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization; Japanese technical development plans, climate change
policy, nuclear and energy policy and carbon emissions schemes; correspondence with international bodies such as the
International Energy Agency (IEA); strategy planning and draft talking points memoranda concerning the management of
diplomatic relations with the United States and the European Union; and the content of a confidential Prime Ministerial
briefing that took place at Shinzo Abe's official residence.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief, said: "In these documents we see the Japanese government worrying in private
about how much or how little to tell the United States, in order to prevent undermining of its climate change proposal
or its diplomatic relationship. And yet we now know that the United States heard everything and read everything, and was
passing around the deliberations of Japanese leadership to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. The lesson for
Japan is this: do not expect a global surveillance superpower to act with honour or respect. There is only one rule:
there are no rules."
WikiLeaks Investigations Editor Sarah Harrison said: "Today's publication shows us that the US government targeted
sensitive Japanese industry and climate change policy. Would the effectiveness of Japan's industry and climate change
proposals be different today if its communications had been protected?"
Japan has been a close historical ally of the United States since the end of World War II. During a recent Presidential
visit to Japan, US President Barack Obama described the East Asian country as "one of America’s closest allies in the
world". Today's publication adds to previous WikiLeaks publications showing systematic mass spying conducted by US
intelligence against the US-allied governments of Brazil "Bugging Brazil", France "Espionnage Élysée" and Germany "The Euro Intercepts"; "All the Chancellor's Men".
Read the full list of NSA high priority targets for Japan published today here.
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ENDS